CountyJail.net

Find Macomb County Jail inmates...

Pre-sentencing

Interview with Stan, Rich and Claudia

JM: Tell us about the pre-sentencing process:
Stan: I had a normal pre-sentencing process for my charge of DUI second offense.
Rich: A pre-sentencing report is a routine process performed as a requirement in all felony conviction cases, and at the discretion of the court or prosecutor or probation department for misdemeanor conviction cases. These reports take into account all previous criminal history, both misdemeanor and felony, and weigh those previous criminal matters and convictions against a scoring table that produces a recommendation (or, for certain crimes and situation, a mandatory guideline) for sentencing to the judge. It is a popular 'urban legend' that juvenile matters charged as juvenile and not adult offenses (called 'adjudications' instead of 'convictions' in the State of Michigan) are automatically sealed or in some way disposed of after the person reaches the age of majority; this is not at all true; one's juvenile record can and will be used as part of the scoring system in the pre-sentencing process.
Claudia: The pre-sentencing process in macomb is VERY slow and takes forever you can be in jail for up to two months just waiting to be sentenced a misdomeanor or up to 4-5 months on a felony charge. It all depends on if you plead guilty or not guilty macomb county is just to over packed and over worked that they cant keep up so they're very backed uo people end up waiting and unfair amount of time especially those who turn out to be innocent/not guilty

JM: Did you have police stop by your house for questioning? If not please give us details on how you came to be arrested.
Stan: no
Rich: The spouse with whom I share a residence went to the police to report an incident of alleged domestic assault. The police came at random in the middle of the night, several hours later, without any clear forewarning, and arrested me (warrantless/'probable cause'). I was not offered the opportunity in the course of this arrest to provide my own accounting of events or side of the story, and I most likely would not have spoken with the police anyhow--just like any good defense attorney might recommend to his client (never talk to the police without the presence of counsel!).
Claudia: Yes and I had warrants issued for a current probation violation out of the Macomb county circuit court building. and the Police that came to question me were from the sterling heights district court which is also in the macomb county circle of courts. The officers told me that they KNEW i had current warrants and If I let them in to get my statement that they would let me walk away and not arrest me even though they were supposed to. So after they toke my statement they let me which Im pretty sure is illegal on their part? But I turned myself in 3 months later

JM: What was court like? Please give as many details as you recall.
Stan: Normal
Rich: The court through which this case was prosecuted is one of the newest in the county; in many ways, for persons incarcerated during the trial process, the building has more elaborate security and construction than the jail facility itself. There is a gated entryway for authorized vehicles (i.e., police or sheriff's transporters), and a remote controlled garage door for the entry of those vehicles into the court building. There is then a series of 2 or 3, or more, key-required elevators and staircases to make way to the appropriate holding cells outside of the courtroom in which the inmate's hearing has been scheduled to be heard. Previously, before the construction of this new courthouse, the building used had rather limited security, certainly nothing as sophisticated as remote entry and gating, and the accused in custody would be openly escorted through the lobbies and hallways with civilians and random persons of the public in almost arm's reach, to enter and exit the courtrooms. At that time, there were also usually full contact sessions with your lawyer or even the prosecutor, in the presence of other inmates in the holding cell. Now, in the newly constructed court building, there are common holding cells, one for male inmates, and one for female inmates, who are then escorted to a conference booth with a bullet-proof plexiglass partition (i.e., non-contact only now); the room echos heavily, and it is hard to hear the other party (lawyer or in rare instances another party such as a court clerk or prosecutor) from the other side; communication is through a passive 'speaker' in the middle of the window, like in the old movie theater ticket booths. Outside in the hallway are armed County Sheriff officials, or federal or Department of Corrections officials, as the case may be from where the defendant was brought from. On the way up to the holding cells and conference rooms for the hearing date, all prisoners are loaded onto the elevators (both female and male) along with the other officials, and the inmates must face the back-side of the wall during the entire time the elevator is in motion. In the past, inmates for misdemeanors were usually simply cuffed (in the front for the elderly or female population), or in the back (for males), but now all inmates brought to court are shackled around the waste with special cuffs attached to the waste-shackle, no matter what their charges may be (misdemeanor, major infraction or ordinance violation, or felony). Usually, your individual case is heard in quick succession with other inmates who accompanied you on the ride over from the jail, rather than individually. Multiple inmates awaiting a hearing are brought into the respective court room usually together in advance, rather than one at a time when they are about to be called before the judge or magistrate. Handcuffs/shackles are not removed at any point during the hearing, inasfar as I can tell, and can be an impediment to reviewing the documentation provided to you by the court clerks/officers or your own attorney, especially in the context of all the quickly proceeding other cases occurring in open court around you while you sit at a pew or table. There are some definite [unfavorable] issues with bookkeeping work, by both the jail and court itself, and in domestic matters they seem to have a particular taste or bent in this county to impose unusually high bonds for these matters, relative to other jurisdictions. There is rumor among the defense attorneys in the court, and also among other inmates in the county lock-up who have to deal with or have dealt with this court, that if one is charged with a felony, the 'preliminary examination' for such a case, which is used to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to 'bind' the case over to the higher court, the county circuit court, are 'perfunctory' and formal only, and that it is extremely rare under any circumstance or case type for a felony charge not simply to be forwarded over to the higher court, no matter how compelling the testimony or evidence to the contrary, in order to allow the judge 'over there' to sort out the matter.
Claudia: Court was nerve wracking they make you wait in this 2ftx2ft size "bird cage" which has only a toilet in it so you have to stand right next to a stinky toilet, finaly when they call you before the judge all the public people in the court room get to witness your case and all your personal information because according to the law it is all public info anyway. then the judge pretty much tells you what a mess and a disgrace you are as a person. but this last time that I went to court my judge was so nice to me and told me how proud of me he was for completely changing my life around and after praising me he gave a ONE YEAR sentence in the macomb county jail thank goodness i had done previous jail stays and he gave me credit for them all So I got credit for 305 days served so i only had to do 60 more thank goodness for that because at the time of sentencing I was 4 months pregnant with my first child. Being pregnant made NO different though and got me no special treatment.

JM: What were your original charges? What did you end up being convicted of?
Rich: Felony Assault [physical] (a four year count with the potential for prison/penitentiary time) was the original charge sought by the police department, and the level of the charge initially authorized by the prosecution. At a subsequent hearing, it was lowered to a misdemeanor level assault & battery [physical] (a count with the possibility of up to one year of jail time). The conviction is for misdemeanor assault.
Claudia: I had a probation violation for Obsconding from probation my original charge for that was a Posession/Delivery and manufacturing of a controlled substance of 50gms or less. My current charge was for Illegal sale/use of a Financial transaction device (credit card fraud)

Read about sentencing in the Macomb County Jail